The present invention relates to a housing system for a laser such as wave-guide lasers, for example, of the type operated by a gas mixture including helium.
Such lasers are known in the art in many different modifications. However, all prior art wave-guide lasers of this type are subject to the same problems, namely, that their shelf life is rather limited, primarily due to the fact that the helium diffuses out of the laser housing. Heretofore attempts have been made to take this fact into account by providing the laser with a gas supply in excess of the normally necessary gas supply, such excess gas being referred to as a ballast gas volume. Attempts to solve the problem by properly sealing the laser have not been successful heretofore because the problems of sealing the laser itself are difficult to solve and any solution is accordingly rather expensive. Besides, even substantial efforts which are not always economically feasible do not necessarily guarantee an actual and permanent solution to the sealing problem. Besides, laser devices which are constructed for a single use, for example primarily laser weapons, do not justify this economical expense, particularly because the space and weight requirements for the additional gas volume are not practically feasible.